Get Fit

I’m sure I am not the only one who hates mayo covered tuna salad, but I love the taste of tuna. I have searched high and low for something that is not dairy based but still tastes good. This is where I came up with the idea of pesto based tuna. It is a healthier option and a more “adult” way to enjoy a tuna salad.

The best part of this tuna salad is it only takes three ingredients!

Pesto Tuna Salad:
One can of white albacore tune
One table-spoon of basil pesto
One finely chopped tomato

Feel free to add any other ingredients that sound good! I would suggest celery, or cucumbers. The more veggies the healthier it becomes!

Once the tomato is finely chopped place everything into a bowl and stir until completely mixed. Be sure to drain your tuna completely; while most are preserved in water it was still high in sodium and this allows for the salty water to not be in your salad.

I bring this for lunch quite often. It is a high in protein lunch and because it is dairy free there is less fat! I place this between two sandwich thins and add some greens for a great lunch!

Every workout I do is ended with me sitting in the sauna. But why? What are the benefits of the sauna other than a small time of relaxation after a hard workout?
Below are my top five major benefits of a post-workout sauna:

1.) Sweating:

Sitting in the sauna will aid you in your weight loss. Sweating in the sauna you’re able to drop the weight in pounds as it removes the water and helps you burn fat deposits. Fat deposits get removed from the muscles and make room for the new muscle you just worked hard to gain. Sweating gets your heart rate up and increases the body’s metabolic process thus you will be burning more calories.

2.) Cardiovascular exercise:

When sitting in the sauna you’re getting a mild cardiovascular exercise (WHAT?). This is similar to walking. When in the sauna blood vessels dilate and this increases the need for blood to the skin. When this happens the volume of blood increases which causes your blood pressure to drop causing your heart to beat faster and more efficiently. This is what happens when you’re walking, but you’re sitting inside of a room and doing nothing.

3.) Aiding in Recovery:

It has been shown that a 30-minute sauna session multiple times a week will aid in the recovery of an athlete. The increase of blood flow to the muscles allows for them to keep getting fueled and remove the lactic acid, which is what makes you sore the following day.

4.) Increased Muscle:

Sitting in the sauna can help your muscles grow. The heat allows for a robust expression of heat shock proteins in the muscles and allows for them to regrow and heal themselves. This means that there is a 30% more muscles growth when sitting in a sauna against those who were immobilized after their workout.

5.) Detoxification:

This goes back to sweating, but in a difference sense. Perspiration is the best way to get rid of toxins. The raise in our body temperature stimulated us to sweat thus we are getting rid of our built up toxins. These toxins can be: copper, lead, sodium, mercury and other dangerous chemicals. No need to fear these because it can all be taken care of with a little bit of time and a lot of sweat.

With all of these benefits it only makes sense to take your time and sit down for 30 minutes post-workout. If you would be interested in a small workout to do while in the sauna let me know!

This is my first entry in #MyFitDiary, yay! This is going to be a run down of my workouts and how I was feeling so I will be able to come back months from now and see how far I’ve come. I’ll admit I am not the strongest person, but I’m going to be! Whether that takes months or years. I plan on doing a rundown of my current fitness level soon so you all can see where I am starting.

This weekend I have been doing two workouts a day (yes, I have a lot of free time). I am breaking them down into cardio and lifting, this way I am not exhausted and I have the energy to give both aspects my all.

What is HIIT cardio?Well, Google tells me, “High Intensity Interval Training involves alternating between very intense bouts of exercise and low intensity exercise. For example, sprinting for 30 seconds, then walking for 60 seconds is high intensity interval training.”

Why do HIIT cardio?HIIT cardio gets your heart beat pumping, simple as that. The higher your heart rate the more likely to hit the “fat burning zone” which is when your heart is about to jump out of your chest. (yes, there heart rate monitors that can give you exact heart rates but we’re not that fancy yet) The use of intervals allows you to keep your heart rate up for longer times in comparison to steady state cardio. Bonus: This form of working out allows for your body to burn more calories for up to 24 hours after interval training, which is not something that will happen when you do steady state.

My HIIT cardioToday I did the stair machine, as I always do. My break down was: 30 seconds at the setting on 60, and then 30 seconds of the setting on 90. I did this for 10 minutes. I felt like this was a good gap between the two, I was never going too slow that I didn’t feel it. Sometimes it was hard to hit the 90 so I would be slightly under, which I am okay with. When working out you need to understand that you’re there to benefit and work yourself not to hurt yourself. If it feels like too much, then it probably is. Listen to your body!

I was exhausted after and all it took was 10 minutes! And I was dripping in sweat. Which was thanks to my new pre workout: C4. I don’t want to get into that too much because I plan on doing a full post about it when I’ve had it for a little longer.

After the stair master I still have a pump and wanted to do more. I went over to the arc trainer planning on doing more HIIT but ended up going hard for half a mile. My biggest suggestion for cardio is bring something to do during it. I am embarrassingly addicted to YouTube so I’ll pull up a video and go until it’s done. I ended up going for half a mile and burning a little under 100 calories. It felt great! I’ve never been able to keep up this high level of cardio for so long. THANK YOU C4!

Cardio doesn’t have to be something you hate. It’s going to benefit you so much in the long run, so get out there and do it. This only took me 15 minutes and I burned about 200 calories. I will start increasing this and hopefully will be able to see results soon.